I really, really liked this book! Loved the format of the storytelling. This book can lead to a lot of good discussions with students.

I really enjoyed it. There is diversity of characters and thought-provoking dialogue. What also made it fun to read is the format. The premise is that a middle school is creating a time capsule and students are encouraged to write up to five letters for extra credit. OF course, there are more than letters. There are recorded conversations that are transcribed, text messages, comics, and newspapers. I like that Kate got her idea from the prison escape in 2015 at Clinton Correctional, too. As I was reading the story, I was remembering that being on the news

Easily one of the best middle-grade books I've recently read, Breakout is an epistolary comprised of submissions to a time capsule: letters, photos, poems, drawings, etc. When their English teacher assigned middle school class to write 5 letters for inclusion in the time capsule, everyone was expecting the results to be a boring account of the day-to-day life in Wolf Creek. That all changes when two convicted murderers escape from the local prison. The characters include the prison superintendent's daughter, her best friend (whose ties to the escape are revealed later), and a girl who moves to Wolf Creek to be close to her brother who is in the prison.

It is an interesting premise to begin with and Messner makes it more so by using the story to address racial inequalities, white privilege, and the need for prison reform in a completely age-appropriate and extraordinarily thought-provoking way.

At one point, Nora says she's tired of thinking about all of these things and her older (and very socially conscious) brother points out that Elidee (who is black) doesn't have the luxury of not thinking about it. As I read this, I could anticipate light bulbs going on over young readers' heads.

There was more to this than I expected from the teasers and knowing some of the background of the story from Kate's posts. I was drawn in by the different layers to the story, the multi-genre method of telling it, and the characters authenticity. And Messner allows the characters and circumstances to delve into deeper issues of racism and systemic oppression, in a way that is engaging and developmentally appropriate for the targeted age level, making this a must purchase for intermediate and middle grades classrooms and libraries.

Due to technical issues with the Adobe reader on my device, I was unable to finish this book. The first 50 pages were awesome and I look forward to reading the rest someday.

It is hard to put into words how much I liked this book. I love this type of format and even though it is a long book, I think that helps it move along faster.
A for sure purchase for our library in the future.

The entire story of prejudice and race is written through a series of letters, essays, articles, texts, and poetry. It allows us to examine different points of view from multiple perspectives. Kate Messner handled an important subject in an outstanding manner. This book is thought provoking and will cause readers to take a step back and reflect, while still being written to appeal to middle grade readers. I look forward to sharing it with students and talking about it with them.